Ehrenfried Pfeiffer

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Ehrenfried Pfeiffer (born February 19, 1899 in Munich , † November 30, 1961 in Spring Valley , New York , USA ) was a German-American chemist , anthroposophist and pioneer of biodynamic agriculture . The Pfeiffer copper chloride crystallization and the round filter chromatogram process go back to Pfeiffer .

Life

Pfeiffer grew up in Nuremberg and came to Dornach in Switzerland at the age of 21 , the then and now the center of anthroposophy . In Dornach, he temporarily became Rudolf Steiner's driver and installed the lighting system and the appropriate stage lighting in the Goetheanum there .

Pfeiffer studied chemistry at the University of Basel , and in 1925 he developed (with the collaboration of Erica Sabarth) the copper chloride crystallization method, which is one of the image-creating methods of anthroposophy. On a cold winter day, he is said to have observed that the steam from a hot coffee cup and a hot tea cup on a cold window created different ice crystals .

Pfeiffer's statements on the possibility of crystallographic diagnosis, hormonoscopy and pregnancy diagnosis were checked in 1936 by the later German concentration camp doctor Sigmund Rascher .

In 1938 he emigrated to the USA. There he developed a process for composting urban waste and carried out research in the field of biodynamic agriculture . 1956 followed the habilitation in biochemistry.

In 1961 Pfeiffer died of a heart attack in Spring Valley .

Works (in German)

  • Crystals. Reports from the work of the scientific research laboratory at the Goetheanum Dornach . Orient-Occident-Verlag, Stuttgart 1930
  • Study of form forces at crystallizations with special consideration of agricultural aspects . Natural science section of the School of Spiritual Science at the Goetheanum, Dornach 1931
  • Sensitive crystallization processes as evidence of forming forces in the blood . Weise, Dresden 1935
  • The fertility of the earth, its maintenance and renewal. The biodynamic principle in nature . Zbinden & Hügin, Basel 1938
  • Practical instructions for the use of biodynamic fertilizers . Dornach 1938
  • The pleasant plant garden. Instructions for garden maintenance according to the biodynamic farming method (with Erika Riese). Geering, Basel 1940
  • Healthy and sick landscape . Metzner, Berlin 1942
  • Rudolf Steiner's agricultural impulse , in: MJ Krück von Poturzyn (ed.): We experienced Rudolf Steiner. Memories of his students . Free spiritual life, Stuttgart 1956
  • Instructions for making compost from urban and industrial waste . G. Fischer, Stuttgart 1957

literature

  • From research into the forces of formation. Festschrift for the 60th birthday of Ehrenfried Pfeiffer , Stuttgart 1959
  • Alla Selawry: Ehrenfried Pfeiffer. Pioneer in spiritual research and practice . Philosophical-Anthroposophical Publishing House, Dornach 1987
  • Thomas Meyer: A life for the spirit. Ehrenfried Pfeiffer (1899–1961). Pfeiffer's autobiographical memories; Records of the etherization of the blood, of the heart function; Letters and notes from the estate . Perseus, Basel 1999, ISBN 3-907564-31-6

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Paul Weindling : Victims and Survivors of Nazi Human Experiments: Science and Suffering in the Holocaust . London Bloomsbury Publishing 2014. Blood Sampling section .
  2. ^ Paul Weindling: Victims and Survivors of Nazi Human Experiments: Science and Suffering in the Holocaust . London Bloomsbury Publishing 2014. Blood Sampling Section .; Sigmund Rascher : Review of E. Pfeiffer's information about the possibility of a crystallographic diagnosis; Attempting a hormonoscopy and pregnancy diagnosis. JF Lehmanns Verlag , 1936.
personal data
SURNAME Pfeiffer, Ehrenfried
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-American chemist and anthroposophist
DATE OF BIRTH February 19, 1899
PLACE OF BIRTH Munich
DATE OF DEATH November 30, 1961
Place of death Spring Valley , New York , USA